Trial looms for Seabrook officer accused of assault

SEABROOK — A final pre-trial and jury selection date has been set in the case against a Seabrook officer accused of assaulting a teen in the police station in 2009.

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By kyle stucker

seacoastonline.com

By kyle stucker

Posted Jul. 15, 2014 at 2:00 AM

By kyle stucker
Posted Jul. 15, 2014 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

SEABROOK — A final pre-trial and jury selection date has been set in the case against a Seabrook officer accused of assaulting a teen in the police station in 2009.

Officer Mark Richardson appeared in Rockingham Superior Court Monday for a dispositional conference on one count of felony simple assault by an on-duty officer in connection with a Nov. 11, 2009, incident involving a 19-year-old driving while intoxicating suspect.

Richardson is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing on Oct. 24, while jury selection is slated to begin on Nov. 3, according to court staff.

Court staff said Richardson's trial date would be scheduled during the pre-trial hearing.

Richardson was indicted in April on the felony charge, at which point he was placed on unpaid administrative leave.

The investigation began in early January after Richardson's alleged victim, Michael Bergeron Jr., of Seabrook, posted Seabrook Police Department surveillance video of the alleged incident on YouTube.

The video depicts three officers leading Bergeron down a hallway inside the station before one of the officers — identified by local and state authorities as Richardson — appears to slam Bergeron head-first into the wall of the cell block.

Richardson was placed on paid administrative leave along with the other officers after Bergeron posted the video online. Prosecutors have said the other officers won't face criminal charges.

Senior Assistant Attorney General Jane Young has said the charge against Richardson carries an enhanced maximum penalty of two to five years in state prison and up to a $4,000 fine because Richardson was on duty when he allegedly slammed Bergeron, now 23, into the wall.

Bergeron is expected to testify should Richardson's case go to trial.

Bergeron has been incarcerated since he was found guilty in April of an unrelated misdemeanor simple assault.

He was sentenced to 12 months in prison for that simple assault, and he was sentenced in June to one to three years in state prison for an unrelated felony burglary charge in June.